Issue after moving 'My Documents'


  1. Posts : 8
    Windows 7 ultimate 64bit
       #1

    Issue after moving 'My Documents'


    Hi there, I recently moved my 20gb 'My Documents' folder from the C drive to a secondary drive (lets call it D) using the usual method as described in the microsoft document (i cant remember the link) and everything worked fine, all the data is now on D and when i open or save to 'My Documents' it points towards D. My problem is that I did this to save space on my C drive as it is only a 64gb SSD. But for some reason although the data has physically gone my user folder on C (C:\Users\MyNAME) is still reporting to include the 20gb that was located there before the move. If i click properties on the user folder it says 20.5gb but if i go into the user folder and select all then click properties (with hidden files shown) it reports the size to be only 500mb ish.

    I have found a few other people on various forums such as here
    Problem Relocating Documents folder to second hard drive in Windows 7 - config-customize - windows-7
    who have reported the same strange problem and so as as its not just me does anyone have a solution thats better than just reformat and start again?

    My (so called) D drive is actually a 4tb set of (4) raid drives that are partitioned into 2 logical drives one 3tb one for data and one 1tb one for software installations. So as you can understand its not as simple as move the data reformat and try again as i dont have another 4tb drive to put the data on as a backup.

    Please help me. it ok as i still have about 10gb on my SSD (C) but its annoying that it says 10GB free when i know there is 30gb free as there is only 34gb ish on the drive C.

    Someone else must have seen and solved this. Please help!
    Paul
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 112
    7x64 SP1
       #2

    Have you tried restoring the location of Documents back to default then doing the move again?
      My Computer


  3. whs
    Posts : 26,210
    Vista, Windows7, Mint Mate, Zorin, Windows 8
       #3

    1. How did you move it?
    2. If you moved it via the location tab in Properties, did you move it to the HDD partition or to a folder in the HDD partition (which is the proper way).

    3. If nothing helps, make a new Documents folder on the HDD and move all your data (but only your own folders) into it. Then right click on this HDD Documents folder and Include it into the Documents library. The advantage is that it seperates all the small system generated folders that float around in Documents from your own stuff.
      My Computer


  4. Posts : 8
    Windows 7 ultimate 64bit
    Thread Starter
       #4

    Thanks for the replies guys.

    StormKitty i really dont want to transfer 20gb back... well actually i cant because the SSD (C) does not now have enough free space to hold 20gb of data.

    Whs...
    I moved it via the location tab in properties yes.
    But i moved it to the root of the partition. (actually called the S drive) Can you explain why this is not ok?

    I will try what you suggested and see if it helps. Probably wont try it till tomorrow though so if your on i would appreciate you checking back if you have any further ideas.
      My Computer


  5. whs
    Posts : 26,210
    Vista, Windows7, Mint Mate, Zorin, Windows 8
       #5

    If you move it to the root of the partition, the default location gets all messed up. I bet you lost the location tab in Properties. Have a look at this: User Folders - Restore Default Location

    My above solution #3 works 100% and then you know what you have done.
      My Computer


  6. Posts : 8
    Windows 7 ultimate 64bit
    Thread Starter
       #6

    Ok so thanks for your efforts but after another look today it seems all was not as described. Last night i set my computer to transfer my My Docs folder from where it was to a new location one folder deeper so not in the root of the drive.

    Well firstly my My Docs is now 193gb (i took up photography recently) so alarm bells started to ring but off i went to sleep with it moving the 200gb overnight. Well i got up and it had copied fine but no different to before. But as My Docs has grown from the 20gb it didnt really make sense anymore. Did some checking and turns out I am an idiot. Although I always show hidden files I must have changed this recently and when I made hidden files visible again I had a 20gb 'App Data' folder sitting there taunting me!!! So sorry for the wasted advice but does anyone know how i can move or reduce the size of this App Data folder?
      My Computer


  7. Posts : 8
    Windows 7 ultimate 64bit
    Thread Starter
       #7

    Problem solved. Adobe premiere had 18gb of cached video in my appdata folder. I moved the cache folders to be stored on another drive and now i have a spare 22gb. Thanks for your help and again sorry if i wasted your time. How do i mark this issue as solved?
      My Computer


  8. whs
    Posts : 26,210
    Vista, Windows7, Mint Mate, Zorin, Windows 8
       #8

    Well, that is good. We all make mistakes. Don't feel bad.
      My Computer


 

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